Julius Kingsley
Julius Kingsley is the protagonist of the story, Of Dishonored Souls. He is the Royal Protector, and secret lover to Empress Saraphine mil Britannia, and the father of Prince Lucian. In reality, he is Lelouch vi Britannia, the 11th Prince of the Royal Family, who joined the military under the alias in order to learn the truth about who killed his mother. After being framed for the Empress' death, Julius escapes Grapp Keep Prison with the aid of the Loyalists, and agrees to join them in order to bring Saraphine's killer, Irach Soveign, to justice. Appearance Julius' appearance is heavily similar to that of Dash, from the spin-off series Code Geass: Renya of the Darkness, bearing slanted purple eyes and long ebony black hair that falls past his shoulders. As the Royal Protector, he is dressed in noble, aristocratic attire, wearing a white cravat with a dark blue coat with gold trims and designs, and has silver, metal edgings to act as a form of protecting. The coat reaches down to his calves, and splits down the middle, and has dark blue dress pants and armored boots with an aristocratic, golden design. He also keeps a rapier held in place inside a sheathe found on his waist. After escaping Grapp Keep and joining the Loyalists, Julius wears the infamous Zero garb, consisting of a tight dark purple suit with golden stripes and long, wrapped sleeves. The outfit combines Victorian fashion with that of a sleek bodysuit; worn over it is a black and gold cloak with crimson spandex lining the inside and an enormous black cape encircling the head. Its immediately recognizable feature is a spiky black and indigo mask with a long variation of the Geass Sigil stretched over its bottom, completely hiding the wearer's face; the mask appears opaque from the outside but is actually transparent from the inside. Personality Julius is a very compassionate, yet diligent and strict individual, taking his role as the Royal Protector very seriously. He acts with the utmost seriousness, but often comes off as aloof and friendly, interacting with many characters such as Bismarck Waldstein and Cornelia, the latter having shown the most comfort in speaking with due to their teacher/student relationship. According to Guilford, Julius only appears imposing whenever he adopts a scowl, and his eyes become narrowed, giving off the impression that he is very irritated or angry. Above everything else, he is a selfless individual, forgoing his own needs for the sake of others, especially those he is close to. He can be quite vindictive and vengeful as well, having sworn vengeance on the man who killed Saraphine and Irach, who planned the murder. As the Royal Protector of the Empress, Julius is very protective over her well-being, and by extension, Lucian. However, he is also very gentle, caring, and loving towards the two. When Julius first became her bodyguard, he was captivated by her likeness to his mother, Marianne, and grew closer to her as a result, seeing her as a sort of mother figure for him. However, their relationship drifted when the two made love to each other, Julius becoming disgusted with himself afterwards, believing that he had betrayed her, and distanced himself from her, but not enough to the point where he was neglecting his duties. Their relationship became further strained when he learned that Saraphine was pregnant, and immediately knew who's child she was carrying. However, thanks to Lucian and his vibrant personality, the two mended their bond, and became secret lovers. Julius is particularly cautious about their affair, as he is aware of the consequences, should their relationship be discovered, in spite of the fact that Charles already knows about it. After Saraphine's death, Julius becomes heavily depressed and aggravated with himself, blaming the incident on his inability to protect her. He also struggles with his own morals, as during his service to the Crown, he was forced to do many horrible things that went against his own ideals and desire to destroy Britannia for what it had done. His anger at himself was released during his escape at Grapp Keep, where he killed several guards before realizing that Saraphine wouldn't want him to become a monster, but his hatred towards those who wronged her and him, as well as Lucian's kidnapping, and his desperation to save his son, often make it hard for him to choose the right thing. After words of encouragement from Euphemia and Schneizel, Julius decides to honor Saraphine's wishes, and tries his best to limit the casualties. Being the handyman of the Loyalists, Julius hunts down various targets and influential characters that could prove useful in defeating Irach, operating under the guise of "Zero," a masked criminal and assassin. As Zero, he displays a cunning, tactical mindset, able to formulate various plans and methods to eliminate his targets, both in lethal and non-lethal manners. He also comes off as a no-nonsense, imposing, yet charismatic individual, with Slackjaw commenting that he is a "noble willing to get his hands dirty." History Born on December 5, 2000 a.t.b. as Lelouch vi Britannia the son of the Emperor of Britannia, Charles zi Britannia, and the late Imperial Consort Marianne, making Lelouch the Eleventh Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire. He was in line to be the seventeenth heir to the throne prior to his mother's assassination and his sister's crippling in the same incident. A ten year old Lelouch confronted the Emperor afterwards and accused him of leaving his mother defenseless, even going as far as renouncing his entitlement to the throne. In response, his father banished him to Japan, where he was used as a political hostage in the Sakuradite conflict. It was during his stay at the Kururugi household that he first met Suzaku Kururugi, with whom the young Lelouch did not interact initially in a friendly manner, before later becoming friends. However, when Britannia finally developed its Knightmare Frames fleet and decided to invade Japan to seize control of the Sakuradite mines, consequently discarding Lelouch's use as a diplomatic tool, Lelouch, fearing for his and his sister's safety, hid their true identities and sought the help of the Ashford family, who were his mother's allies. His mother's death and his father's apparent lack of concern in regards to it were huge blows to Lelouch. He always felt that it was unfair for both his mother and sister, and therefore made it his goal to pursue a better world for Nunnally. He also seeks to discover the true reason for his mother's death, as she was murdered in the Aries Imperial Palace, a place terrorists would be unlikely to penetrate successfully without being noticed, if at all. Believing that he could discover the truth by learning about it from the inside, Lelouch made insurances that Nunnally wouldn't be discovered, and made falsified applications to enlist in the military, which trained young men at the age of fifteen, whereas Lelouch was thirteen at the time he submitted his application. Due to his weak constitution, he barely passed the physical exams, but completed the written exams with flying colors. Thanks to that, he joined the military's Cadet Program, where he was forced to endure (in his opinion) "hellish" training under the assumed name of Julius Kingsley. By chance, Cornelia, who was performing a military inspection, discovered him. At first, Lelouch panicked that she would recognize him, but thankfully, Cornelia only saw it as a mere resemblance, and upon learning about his records, took him under her wing, possibly as a form of atonement, as he learned later that she blamed herself for failing to protect his mother at the Aries Villa. For the next two years, under Cornelia's tutelage, Lelouch became an experienced soldier, soon reaching the rank of Second Lieutenant, and served underneath Andreas Darlton.